Tim walked with the Metro detective down the hall of the hospital. "Thanks for sticking around, Detective."
"Of course, Director. I wanted to be available in case you needed anything else," Detective Jackson said.
"There is. First, I don't suppose there's anything else you found at the scene," Tim said. He doubted it. These guys were clearly pros. Their only mistake so far was underestimating Gibbs.
"Not much. They clearly dumped him there. There was no physical evidence to suggest it was the crime scene. They did their damage to your guy elsewhere," he said.
"I assumed so. We're dealing with pros," Tim said.
"Listen, we'll get you all the information we have as soon as possible, which, like I said, Isn't much. This is your man. We won't fight jurisdiction," Jackson said.
"I appreciate that, but I was actually going to suggest we collaborate," Tim said.
Jackson raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You wanna share the investigation? But this is clearly your case," Jackson said. Normally, he'd be all for keeping a case he caught, and he'd fight tooth and nail to keep the Feds from taking it, but this was about one of theirs. They had the right to it.
"Things are a bit complicated. Our hands are a little tied at the moment," Tim said.
"Complicated. That another term for 'Classified'? You guys like to use that one a lot," Jackson said good naturedly.
Tim chuckled. "Believe it or not, we hate that word as much as you do at times. And, no, that's not what I meant exactly. Although, we do need this case to remain under wraps at the moment. In fact, Aside from the Secretary of the Navy, only seven people in my agency know about it, including me.
"Damn. I can see the predicament you've found yourself in. It's hard to investigate when even your own agency is being kept in the dark. Well, if you want our help, you've gotta at least tell me something," Jackson said.
Tim nodded. "I can't go into details until I clear it with SecNav, but this runs much deeper than Gibbs. We have someone else missing as well. Let me just add to that that I have been in my current position for about twenty-four hours because of that reason."
Jackson swore under his breath. He got the picture. Their director was missing. "I see why your superiors wanna keep this quiet. You're worried your agency is being attacked. Alright, I have to clear it with my superiors, but if they agree, I'll do what I can to help. And I'll keep what you just told me to myself for now."
"I appreciate that. The first thing I need is security detail for Gibbs' room. If these people find out they failed to kill him, they could come back," Tim said.
"Okay. I can handle that much before I speak to my superiors. It shouldn't be hard to get us to work with you. We all want to help when someone in law enforcement is targeted," he said.
"Thank you," Tim said before shaking his hand.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Tony and Ziva were sitting in the kitchen belonging to Amelia Walker, the sister of their dead suspect. They'd just told her that her brother was dead.
"I can't say I'm surprised by this. In fact, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. I always figured it was just a waiting game before someone told me Alex was dead," Amelia said.
"When was the last time you saw or spoke to your brother?" Ziva asked.
"Eight or nine years. When my father disowned him. He couldn't take it anymore, and I couldn't blame him. Alex had been a disaster since his late teens," she explained.
"How so?" Tony asked.
"Well, I'm sure you read his file. He's got an arrest record a mile long, and that was before we cut him off. It started small with drugs and petty theft, but things only escalated. The next thing we knew, he was getting involved with a drug trafficking operation. That was my dad's last straw."
"Do you have any idea who he was involved with?" Tony asked. It was probably unlikely that they were the same guys he worked with to attack the director and Gibbs, but you never knew. Plus, it would at least be a place for them to start.
Amelia shook her head. "No. My father looked into them though. My grandfather was a cop and my father turned to a few of his former coworkers. Apparently one of the guys Alex was involved in was really terrible. He was suspected to be involved with a lot of stuff, including the murder of a federal agent. My dad never gave me a name though, and he died a couple of years ago, so you can't ask him."
"Okay. Well, thank you for your time, Amelia, and we're sorry for your loss," Tony said. He couldn't exactly say he was sorry Alexander Walker was dead, but he was sorry for any pain his sister felt.
"Thanks, but for me, Alex died a long time ago," she said.
Tony nodded before standing up and heading for the door. Ziva followed him. "Another dead end."
"Yes, but we at least have a clearer idea of the kind of men we are looking for," Ziva said as they walked to the car.
"Do we? I think we already knew we were dealing with ruthless, career criminals. We're still no closer to finding out who they are and why they targeted the director," Tony said in frustration.
"We will find out," Ziva assured her partner.
Tony sighed as they both got in the car. "I'm just frustrated. It doesn't help that we're short-handed and forced to keep this whole thing a secret while we try to save the director and get justice for her and Gibbs.
"I know. This is a very difficult situation. I am concerned as well, so is McGee, and of course the others," Ziva said. She was actually quite worried about McGee. On the outside, he appeared to be taking things well, but she also knew he was good at hiding his emotions, much better than he let on, or anyone suspected. She'd seen his face when she and Tony got to Jenny's. She'd also witnessed him lose it with Abby at the lab, though who could blame him, and his frustration at not being able to actively help the investigation. He was taking it hard. He was probably only doing as well as he was because he was constantly busy.
Tony nodded. "I shouldn't have said what I did yesterday, about no one being as upset as me. I guess I feel like it's worse for me because I've known Gibbs longer than you or McGee, but I had no business telling you how you feel. I'm sorry."
Ziva nodded her acceptance. "I think that things have been said lately that we don't mean. It is a stressful situation."
"I can only assume you mean Abby going at it with McGee. You know, I get that it's stressful, but that was over the top, not to mention stupid. She would never have spoken to Director Shepard the way she did to McGee, and if she had, her ass would've been suspended," Tony said.
"She was out of line. Although, you did not respond well to McGee being in charge either," Ziva reminded him. She agreed with him about Abby, but she also felt that Tony was out of line with the things he said to McGee as well.
"No, but I didn't take it that far. I admit, I had a hard time with it, and truly didn't think McGee would be a good leader. I can admit now that I was wrong. In any event, I wouldn't speak to a superior the way Abby did. I don't know what it is, but every time Gibbs gets hurt, Abby loses any sense she has," Tony said.
"Yes, I have noticed," Ziva said.
"Anyway, I'm not sure what our next move is. We can go back and look at the director's files again, but I don't think we're going to find any leads there," Tony said.
"Actually, I was thinking of exploring another avenue. I am not certain this is about a case," Ziva said.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because of Gibbs. We know that Gibbs was only collateral damage, but he was there for a reason, and if it were a case, Jenny could have spoken to him at NCIS. What if it was something Jenny was working on outside of work?" Ziva asked.
"You mean like another La Grenouille thing. I don't know. It's possible, but Gibbs could've been there for any reason. I mean, we all kind of know they had something going in the past. Maybe it started up again," Tony theorized.
Ziva shook her head. "My gut is telling me that Jenny and Gibbs were working on something, and it could have to do with what happened.
"Okay. Look into the director's movements once we get back to NCIS. It can't hurt anything at this point," Tony said. He knew better than to question anyone when they said their gut told them something. Working with Gibbs for so long told him that the gut was an important part of the investigative process.
Ziva nodded and watched him get ready to drive.
